 Curle as manager ofCarlisle United in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Keith Curle[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1963-11-14)14 November 1963 (age 61)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Bristol, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre back[1] | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1981–1983 | Bristol Rovers | 32 | (4) |
| 1983–1984 | Torquay United | 16 | (5) |
| 1984–1987 | Bristol City | 121 | (1) |
| 1987–1988 | Reading | 40 | (0) |
| 1988–1991 | Wimbledon | 93 | (3) |
| 1991–1996 | Manchester City | 174 | (11) |
| 1996–2000 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 150 | (10) |
| 2000–2002 | Sheffield United | 57 | (1) |
| 2002 | Barnsley | 11 | (0) |
| 2002–2005 | Mansfield Town | 14 | (0) |
| Total | 708 | (35) | |
| International career | |||
| 1991–1992 | England B | 4 | (0) |
| 1992 | England | 3 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2002–2004 | Mansfield Town | ||
| 2005–2006 | Chester City | ||
| 2007 | Torquay United | ||
| 2012–2013 | Notts County | ||
| 2014–2018 | Carlisle United | ||
| 2018–2021 | Northampton Town | ||
| 2021 | Oldham Athletic | ||
| 2022–2023 | Hartlepool United | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Keith Curle (born 14 November 1963) is an English footballmanager and former professional player, who was most recently the manager of National League sideHartlepool United.
He played as acentre back from 1981 to 2005, notably in thePremier League forManchester City, where he was also the club captain. He also played forBristol Rovers,Torquay United,Bristol City,Reading,Wimbledon,Wolverhampton Wanderers,Sheffield United,Barnsley. He was capped three times byEngland and received four caps atB Team level.
He became player-manager ofMansfield Town in 2002, where he remained until 2005. He later managedChester City, Torquay United,Notts County,Carlisle United,Northampton Town andOldham Athletic.
Born inBristol,[1] Curle began his career at hometown clubBristol Rovers, for whom he made a goalscoring debut on 29 August 1981 in the(old) Third Division againstChester. He left two seasons later to joinTorquay United for £5,000 but remained atPlainmoor only for four months before returning to his native city, this time withBristol City.
TheRobins won promotion from the fourth tier at the end of the1983–84 season soon after Curle's arrival. He remained with the club for three full seasons in the third flight, amassing 128 appearances in total. He finally leftAshton Gate to joinReading for £150,000 in October 1987.
After a year at Reading – during which Reading won theSimod Cup and were relegated from theSecond Division – he made a £500,000 move toDivision One andFA Cup holdersWimbledon. He spent two and a half years battling with theCrazy Gang beforeManchester City paid a club record £2.5million for him in August 1991. This was the joint highest fee paid for a defender by a British club at the time, and one of the highest paid for a player of any position.
His first season atMaine Road saw a 5th place league finish and earned him a call-up to theEngland squad, debuting on 29 April 1992 as a substitute in a 2–2 friendly draw against theCIS in Moscow. After starting in a further warm-up game (a 1–0 win overHungary), he was selected for the squad forEuro '92. Here, he covered at right-back in their opening goalless group game againstDenmark, but played no further part as the nation crashed out at the first stage and was not selected again.
Back with his club, Curle was promoted to club captain but they were unable to match their 5th-place finish after managerPeter Reid was fired and eventually suffered relegation in the1995–96 season. Curle remained with the club during pre-season for the following campaign but was soon stripped of his captaincy and transfer-listed before being sold toWolves in August 1996 for £650,000.
He spent four seasons atMolineux as the club tried to win promotion to thePremier League. His first season with the team saw them lose in the play-offs toCrystal Palace, but they failed to qualify for them in his subsequent seasons. He was however made club captain and led to the side to anFA Cup semi-final in 1998, where they lost to eventual double winnersArsenal.
The promise of a coaching role saw him move toSheffield United in 2000 and he spent two years working with managerNeil Warnock in this capacity, scoring once as a player against Bradford City.[3] He joinedBarnsley in 2002 but stayed just two months before ending his contract by mutual consent and joining third flight clubMansfield Town, where he was soon appointed player-manager. He played through the remainder of the 2002–03 season before focusing solely on management.
Curle began his management career on 3 December 2002 after being appointed as player-manager of Mansfield Town, after the dismissal ofStuart Watkiss.[4] He took over with the team struggling in the relegation zone and could not prevent the drop to the fourth tier, but took them to the play-off final in his first full season in charge, where they lost on penalties toHuddersfield Town.
In December 2004, he was controversially fired over claims that he had intimidated a member of the youth team. However, in August 2006, Curle won a case for wrongful dismissal against the club and was awarded undisclosed damages. The judge in the case cleared Curle of any wrongdoing, and described Mansfield's disciplinary process as a "sham".[5]
Despite the outcome of his hearing not yet being clear, he was appointed as manager ofChester City in May 2005 and began brightly with the club challenging for promotion fromLeague Two and eliminatingNottingham Forest from the FA Cup. However, a disastrous losing run of 11 games in 12 cost Curle his job in February 2006 after just nine months in charge.
On 8 February 2007, he was appointed head coach (effectively manager under Director of FootballColin Lee, his former manager at Wolves) at Torquay United, where he had played earlier in his career.[6] He was on a short-term contract that ended in the summer of 2007. After failing to save Torquay from relegation, Curle's contract was not renewed and he was replaced byLeroy Rosenior on 17 May 2007.[7]
Curle reunited with Neil Warnock, when the latter was appointed manager ofChampionship sideCrystal Palace in October 2007 and immediately brought Curle into his coaching team.[8] Curle followed Warnock across London toQueens Park Rangers on 1 March 2010, again as coach. On 8 January 2012, he was sacked by the club with manager Warnock and assistant managerMick Jones.
On 20 February 2012, he was named as manager ofNotts County.[9] Curle made an impressive start to his reign at Notts County winning his first four games. He finished the2011–12 season with Notts in seventh place, only missing out on the play-offs by goal difference. Curle's team made a good start to the2012–13 season. A 2–2 draw withOldham Athletic meant Curle equaled a 41-year record by going unbeaten away from home in the league in 10 consecutive games for the first time since 1971. The record was broken three days later when Notts County drew 1–1 withMK Dons.[10] The run finally came to end on 27 January 2013 when Notts County were beaten 2–1 byLeyton Orient. Before that the team had gone 22 consecutive away games without defeat.[11]
On 3 February 2013, Curle was sacked by Notts County.[12]
In September 2014, he was appointed as manager ofCarlisle United, where he remained until the end of the 2017–18 season.[13][14]
On 1 October 2018, Curle was appointed manager atNorthampton Town.[15]
On 29 June 2020, Northampton Town won theLeague Two Play-Off Final under Curle, gaining him his first promotion with a club in the EFL as the Cobblers beat Exeter 4–0 at Wembley.
On 10 February 2021, Curle was sacked by Northampton Town with the club occupying 23rd place in League One, having endured a run of one win in 10 matches, and one goal scored in 2021.[16]
On 8 March 2021 Curle was appointed boss ofLeague Two sideOldham Athletic following the sacking ofHarry Kewell the day before.[17] Curle left his position on 24 November 2021 with the club sitting in 22nd position inLeague Two, one place and two points above the relegation zone.[18]
On 18 September 2022, Curle was appointed as the interim manager ofLeague Two sideHartlepool United following the sacking ofPaul Hartley earlier that day.[19] At the time of his appointment, Hartlepool were winless in their first nine league games of the season and sat in 23rd place.[20] On 3 December 2022, Curle was appointed as Hartlepool's permanent manager on a deal until the end of the 2023–24 season.[21]
Curle was relieved of his duties on 22 February 2023.[22] He won eight of 29 games during his tenure, leaving the side one point clear of the relegation zone but having played four more games than 23rd placeCrawley Town.[23] Hartlepool were later relegated at the end of the2022–23 season.[24]
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Mansfield Town | 3 December 2002 | 11 November 2004 | 104 | 39 | 23 | 42 | 037.5 | [25] |
| Chester City | 2 May 2005 | 18 February 2006 | 39 | 12 | 10 | 17 | 030.8 | [25][26] |
| Torquay United | 8 February 2007 | 17 May 2007 | 15 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 013.3 | [25] |
| Notts County | 20 February 2012 | 3 February 2013 | 51 | 23 | 14 | 14 | 045.1 | [9][12][27] |
| Carlisle United | 19 September 2014 | 5 May 2018 | 207 | 79 | 62 | 66 | 038.2 | [25][28] |
| Northampton Town | 1 October 2018 | 10 February 2021 | 125 | 47 | 32 | 46 | 037.6 | [25] |
| Oldham Athletic | 8 March 2021 | 24 November 2021 | 40 | 9 | 9 | 22 | 022.5 | [25] |
| Hartlepool United | 18 September 2022 | 22 February 2023 | 29 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 024.1 | [29] |
| Total | 610 | 218 | 161 | 231 | 035.7 | |||
Bristol City
Reading
Northampton Town
As a player
As a manager
